Dominique Ansel Brings Burgers to LA for a Week

Have you heard of the Hot Fried Chicken DKA sandwich?

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Legendary pastry chef Dominique Ansel's bakery in New York is very well known for offering his signature creations like the Cronut and DKA (Dominique's Kouign-Amann). He recently opened up his new bakery and restaurant in the Grove in Los Angeles, where Spoon UCLA stood in line for 3 hours before the grand opening. The new joint has been a great success, and there is always a constant crowd bustling inside, restlessly anticipating their first bite into its famous pastries. Ansel also tried something new with the place, offering his first-ever restaurant on the second floor, 189 by Dominique Ansel.

Vaibhav Aggarwal

From March 12 - March 16, he is converting his restaurant into an "outdoor" picnic. Dom's Burgers is a fun, food-filled event he is putting on this week, offering limited-time creations such as burgers ($15), popsicles ($4), lemonade ($4), cookies ($4), and roasted nuts ($4). He set up picnic blankets to hang out on and bean bag tosses to play with. Dom's Burgers only runs from 11:30AM to 2PM on each of these days. Here's our experience attending this event, and what we loved about it.

Vaibhav Aggarwal

Burgers

Vaibhav Aggarwal

1. 189 Burger Jr.

Rachel Lee

The 189 Burger Jr. was a smaller version of the burger regularly offered at the 189 restaurant. I don't eat beef, so Spoon UCLA's videography director, Rachel Lee, tried it and weighed in on how it was. "It was a pretty solid burger. Meat was tender. It had a roasted or grilled tomato that was pretty tasty [and] was a nice touch. Melted cheese was a plus. Oh, and the bun was on point. Perfect consistency and the sesame seeds on top were yum." She seemed to love it, so it must've been good!

2. Hot Fried Chicken DKA Sandwich

Vaibhav Aggarwal

Oh, man, where to begin? This Hot Fried Chicken DKA Sandwich features spicy fried chicken splattered in house-made hot sauce surrounded by a DKA, Ansel's popular take on the French pastry. I'm not too big of a burger or sandwich person, but I will say that this was, hands-down, the best sandwich I've ever had. Period.

The thought of the sweet pastry around meat with spicy sauce might throw some people off, but taking the first bite, you first taste the sweet, puffy pastry, and then hit the smooth and tender chicken with a kick of spice, and realize how well these ingredients complement each other. It also comes paired with herb fries which tasted just like normal, ordinary fries. The experience is inexplicable, and is a must-try. If only it was offered for longer than only this week!

Lemonade

Vaibhav AggarwalVaibhav Aggarwal

The lemonades offered here were all very solid. After sampling each of them, we decided to go for the strawberry basil and pineapple. The presence of each ingredient was apparent in the strawberry basil, and it didn't taste very sweet. The pineapple, on the other hand, was very sweet, which was perfect for my sweet tooth. Spice flakes on the rim of the cup was a nice touch to help balance the sweetness.

Cookies

Vaibhav Aggarwal

Cookies were being offered on a cute little cart in a corner. We decided to try the classic Chocolate Chip and White Chocolate Macadamia Sea Salt cookies. They were generously-sized and had a very soft and satisfying bite to them because of how thick they were. The chocolate in the Chocolate Chip were fresh and gooey, and the White Chocolate Macadamia Sea Salt had a nice saltiness to it towards the end.

Vaibhav Aggarwal

Go before Friday!

Vaibhav Aggarwal

We unfortunately weren't able to try the popsicles or roasted nuts because we literally couldn't eat anymore without exploding. We had a great time at Dom's Burgers, and I will never forget the legendary Hot Fried Chicken DKA Sandwich. We recommend checking them out by Friday to have a fun, stomach-filling experience.

Dom's Burgersruns from March 12 - March 16 from 11:30AM to 2PM at the Grove in Los Angeles.